The present invention relates to a device for securing monofilament lines together, and, more particularly, to a device that is self powered and which can be used to weld fishing lines to each other.
In the sport of fishing, there are number of instances where it is necessary to secure monofilament fishing lines together in a sturdy, tight affixation, such as, for example, in the need to secure the hook to the end of a fishing line, the joining of monofilament fishing lines together to add length to a fishing line, or in simply adding a leader to the fishing line. Other components that are normally added to a fishing line include fasteners, buttons, weights, floats, lures and the like. Obviously, the need to secure two lines together is also necessary in the event that a fishing line has been inadvertently broken or even deliberately cut to release an undesirable fish from the end of the line.
As used herein, obviously, the invention will be described as the affixing of monofilament lines together, however, it will be understood that the present invention may only be using one monofilament line that is looped back over itself and then be secured to itself so as to form a loop in a single monofilament line.
In any case, it is relatively important that the affixation of the fishing lines together be secure, tight and, also, of importance, that the affixation be relatively easy to carry out since normally the operation of carrying out such procedure takes place in a less than convenient location, that is, the securing of the lines may take place on a fishing boat that is continually in motion, or at some shore facility where the surrounding environment is not particularly conducive to a time-consuming, somewhat intricate procedure to secure the lines together.
In the normal procedure, the fishing lines are manually tied together and a knot is used to affix the differing lines together. In many cases, it is necessary to double knot the line to prevent unraveling and to provide a secure attachment.
There are, however several disadvantages to the use of knots. For example, the multiple knots create a disturbance in the water as the multiple knots travel through the water and a loose series of such knots can actually repel fish by creating excessive turbulence in the water.
In addition, while the resulting knot normally serves to adequately affix the lines together, in many instances the knot is not sufficiently secure, such as when the knot is tied by someone that is inexperienced in the knot tying technique such that the knot later becomes untied and the fishing lines separated during the subsequent use of the joined fishing line.
Further, of course the normal monofilament fishing line itself is stiff and clear, two characteristics that make such lines difficult to work with, particularly in the early morning or late event hours when visibility is diminished. The exterior surface is also very slippery and lubricious and the very tying of a knot is not a simple operation as the lines do not readily adhere to each other. The monofilament line also has a memory and consequently often tends to become loose despite the original tightness of the knot or knots.
As such, the securing of the knot is basically related to the skill of the person tying the knot and a less skilled person has more difficulty in securing the lines together and, consequently, there is more likelihood of a knot later becoming untied and the lines again separated.
In an example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,966 of McKenzie, there has been suggested the bonding of a monofilament fishing line to a fishing hook by heating the hook above the softening temperature of that monofilament line and then touching the fishing line to the hook. However, the heating means in the McKenzie patent is described to be a match, candle or the like and is not a particularly useful procedure in adverse conditions where the environment may comprise wind and water spray that would seem to make the process quite difficult.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a device that can affix monofilament fishing lines together and not be dependent upon the skill or dexterity of the user and which can be used to create a weld between the fishing lines resulting in a strong bond therebetween.
It would also be advantageous to have a device that could easily and simply carry out the affixing of monofilament lines together having an independent source of power so that the welding or bonding of the fishing lines could be accomplished in any environment safely and without the need for local power or heat and the resultant bond be readily attainable in adverse conditions to uniformly provide a good bond between such fishing lines.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to a device to carry out the efficient and easy welding of monofilament fishing line. The process of welding monofilament fishing line itself is simple, rapidly accomplished and provides an end product junction or connection that is relatively streamlined so as to create a minimum of disturbance as the connection is drawn through the water.
Thus, in the process of welding monofilament fishing line, the actual bond between the individual lines is created by applying heat to one or more surfaces of the monofilament material to cause some melting and consequent joining of the lines. The welding can be accomplished by one of at least three techniques, that is, (a) heating through the conduction of thermal energy, (b) heating of the monofilament line by means of ultrasonic frequencies and (c) heating of the monofilament line by the use of radio frequency (RF) energy.
The present invention can apply any of the aforementioned techniques and comprises a hand held device that has its own internal power source so that the device can be taken to and used in any environment, even where no source of power is available. Accordingly, the present hand held welding device can be easily carried by a user in a fishing box along with other accessories and devices used in fishing. The internal power for the present hand held welding device can be supplied by batteries, rechargeable or not, or the power can be supplied by means of solar power cells. Alternatively, a combination of batteries and solar powered cells can be used where the solar cells are used to recharge the batteries.
The device has a pair of handgrips that control the spacing between a pair of clamping jaws such that the jaws can be moved between an open position where there is a space between the jaws and a closed position where the jaws are tightly fitted together to hold the fishing lines therebetween. In the device, one of the jaws is preferably movable with the other of the jaws being stationary. The handgrips are provided for gripping by the user and the manual manipulation of the handgrips allows the user to move the clamping jaws between the open and the closed positions.
In the preferred embodiment, the jaws are biased away from each other so that the user can simply squeeze the handgrips together to move the jaws to the closed position and, by releasing the handgrips, the jaws return to the normally open position.
The configuration of the jaws is designed so as to cause the monofilament fishing lines to be held in a close abutting relationship and, while in such position, the user can activate the heating means to raise the temperature of the plastic monofilament lines to a temperature in excess of the melting point of the material of the fishing lines so that a melting takes place to weld the fishing lines together.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent during the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings herein.